Spruce Street Climb
- long (3.7 km)
- 2.3 mi
- long (3.7 km)
- of climbing (180 m)
- 591 ft
- of climbing (180 m)
- average grade
- 4.9%
- average grade
- steepest 500 m
- 7.3%
- steepest 500 m
Elevation profile
From 236 ft at the bottom to 827 ft at the top. Grades are averaged over each half kilometre, from USGS elevation data, so short ramps can be steeper than they show.
Weather at the top of Spruce Street this week
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Is it safe to bike up Spruce Street?
We don't rate roads as safe or unsafe: crash counts can't say how risky a ride is, and roads people like to ride draw more riders, so they see more crashes. What the records show: 7 bike crashes were reported on or beside Spruce Street along the climb from 2021–2025, 1 of them serious or fatal. The most were at Spruce & Los Angeles Av (3). Of the 6 where the cyclist's direction along the climb can be read, 6 were coming down and 0 going up.
Where bike crashes cluster on Spruce Street
- 3 crashes
Spruce & Los Angeles Av
A mix of crash types
See it on the map
Common questions about Spruce Street
- How long and steep is the Spruce Street climb?
- 2.3 miles (3.7 km) at 4.9% on average, climbing 591 ft (180 m) from 236 ft to 827 ft. The steepest half kilometre averages 7.3%. That makes it a Category 3 climb.
- Where does the climb start and finish?
- It starts at 37.87424, -122.26538, where Spruce Street leaves Hearst Avenue, and tops out at Grizzly Peak Boulevard at 37.90433, -122.26952.
- Is Spruce Street paved?
- Yes, by its OpenStreetMap tags.
- How is the category worked out?
- From the climb's shape only: length in metres × average grade (%) of 16,000 or more for Cat 3, 32,000 for Cat 2, 64,000 for Cat 1 and 80,000 for HC. It describes how hard the climb is, not traffic or crashes.
- Where does this data come from?
- The climb is found from OpenStreetMap roads and USGS 3DEP elevation (every climb, not a list of famous ones). Access is from OpenStreetMap tags; gates and closures change, so obey posted signs. Crash counts are police reports in the California Crash Reporting System (CCRS) on data.ca.gov, counted where their map location is within 100 ft of the climb. The forecast is from the National Weather Service.
Other climbs nearby
- Euclid AvenueCat 3 · 2.3 mi at 4.7% · 561 ft · starts 0.3 mi away
- Centennial DriveCat 3 · 1.7 mi at 8.9% · 781 ft · starts 0.9 mi away
- Panoramic WayCat 3 · 1.6 mi at 8.1% · 679 ft · starts 1.0 mi away
- Cedar StreetCat 3 · 1.9 mi at 5.3% · 525 ft · starts 1.4 mi away
- Tunnel Road from Ashby AvenueCat 3 · 4.6 mi at 3.9% · 948 ft · starts 1.5 mi away
- Hearst AvenueCat 3 · 2.6 mi at 4% · 558 ft · starts 1.8 mi away
- South Park DriveCat 3 · 1.5 mi at 9% · 715 ft · starts 1.8 mi away
- Marin AvenueCat 3 · 2.1 mi at 8.8% · 994 ft · starts 1.8 mi away
Places to ride to nearby
Bike crash hotspots nearby
Found from OpenStreetMap roads and USGS 3DEP elevation; ranked on shape only. Category 3: length in metres × average grade (%) of 16,000 or more for Cat 3, 32,000 for Cat 2, 64,000 for Cat 1 and 80,000 for HC. It describes how hard the climb is, not traffic or crashes. Crashes: bike crashes reported within 100 ft of the climb, 2021–2025, from the California Crash Reporting System (CCRS), counted only where the report has map coordinates. Weather: National Weather Service. Access from OpenStreetMap tags; obey posted signs. How the data works.